Selling a car that has been written off

[STW2010]

Hello all.

A short while ago my 323 coupe was written off by my insurance company due to a non-fault claim. This is a category C write off. I bought the car back from the insurance as I wished to keep the alloy wheels and look into the possibility of extracting the Harmon Kardon stereo system. I have now bought myself another car, and have taken the wheels off of the 323, and would now like to sell this on for spares or repair.

I have a number of questions-

1. I understand that Cat-C cars need to undergo an identification check, and so a new V5 won't be issued until this has been done. Does this stop me from transferring the car to a new registered keeper? Basically, do we fill in the V5 as normal, post it back to the DVLA and then they transfer the keepers and retain the V5 until the VIC has been completed?

2. Where is the best place to sell this car? I was thinking Ebay, despite the horror stories that frequently appear on PH.

3. As the car was written off, there is no MOT and I have since SORNed the car. So no tax, MOT or insurance. Would that put buyers off? Obviously it would need to be taken away on a trailer.


I want to do this in a way that avoids the most hassle, so I will obviously be very upfront and honest about the car, but I don't want someone to win an Ebay auction only to find we cannot transfer the V5 in the foreseeable future. Or to do anything that will cause any other issues. Basically, I want it off my driveway but want to sell it for as much as possible.

[STW2010]

I know this is unlikely to happen, but what if I sold the car and the buyer didn't do the VIC for 11 months, leaving me responsible for tax/SORN?

[STW2010]

So, in addition to the letter to the DVLA, do the buyer and myself still fill in the V5 as with any ordinary sale?

[STW2010]

Excellent, will do. I always draft up a very detailed receipt when selling cars, so I will be sure to do that this time around. Thanks for your help.

Nice 740 by the way.

[STW2010]

All that jazz said:

So it's Cat C, no V5, no MoT, no tax and no ins. Your total bids on Ebay will amount to £2.50 and then the winning bidder will back out because he's realised it will cost him £200+ to trailer the car to him. Just chop it in to your local scrappy for £200 and be done with it.

It has the V5. The stereo in the car is worth £400 alone (units from scrapped cars do actually sell for that).

[STW2010]

Meoricin said:

So take it out and sell it?

This is an absolute mission. It's not just the head unit, but the wiring loom, the speakers and all the speaker wires. Then there is a simple button above the ash tray to turn the system on and off (and possibly a wiring loom for that too!).

I don't have the time to do this.

[STW2010]

Jakg said:

I spent £350 on a Rover 75 with no tax, insurance and a dead engine.

I broke it for over £1200...

There will be buyer out there!

You are the sort of buyer I had in mind. I know full well that I could make a lot more money if I broke it up, but to be honest it is taking up a valuable space on my driveway and I don't have the time to piss about selling bits at a time.

[STW2010]

All that jazz said:

So it's Cat C, no V5, no MoT, no tax and no ins. Your total bids on Ebay will amount to £2.50 and then the winning bidder will back out because he's realised it will cost him £200+ to trailer the car to him. Just chop it in to your local scrappy for £200 and be done with it.

Just an update. The car sold today for nearly a grand, after an auction which attracted tons of emails ('what's your best price mate') and 50+ watchers.

Good thing I didn't take your advice isn't it..

[STW2010]

CampDavid said:

Pride cometh before the fall; it's never sold until the cash is in your hand and the seller has it on the back of a trailer.

Good skills though

Cash was in my hands and the car gone when I wrote that message.

Done deal

[STW2010]

buzzer said:

Thing is, its an indication of the value, if this buyer fails there will be others at a bit less... but not £200.

Does amaze me what people will pay though... I have recently sold a car that was a CAT D AND a cat C for £2500... I thought it was worth about £900...

I saw a 10 year old Mini on ebay last week, which had the front wheel (and suspension/steering) absolutely smashed to bits. It would have been a very big job to fix (much worse than the damage on mine). It was worth more than my BMW pre-accident (£3,800, compared with £2,800 for my car), but that sold for £1,500.

I suppose if you are able to do body and structural repairs, then buying damaged cars is a great way of getting yourself a little project and then ultimately a great car for much less than normal money.